MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
BOJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500
TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING NOTES & QUOTES
AUGUST 31, 2019
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 HENDRICK AUTOGUARD/CITY CHEVROLET THROWBACK CAMARO ZL1 – Pole Winner:
NICELY DONE! HOW DID YOU DO IT?
“I don’t know. I guess we dropped the hammer on that one! But no, it was good. The car was really good for us. We luckily did a mock run yesterday. We had enough time to do one at the end of the first practice session and I feel like that helped us just propel our qualifying effort a little bit more. We kind of knew what the grip level was going to be like and kind of what our balance was going to be. It’s good to have the No. 24 City Chevrolet on the pole and we’ll just see what we can do for 500 miles.”
ANOTHER CROWN JEWEL POLE FOR YOU. DID YOU AND CHAD KNAUS (CREW CHIEF) LOOK AT THE SCHEDULE AND SAID OKAY, LET’S MAKE SURE WE WIN THE POLE AT THESE TRACKS?
“No, it seems like we put more into those qualifying efforts just knowing how important track position is and knowing if we can have the number one pit stall all day long and/or all night long, it would be a big deal. We’ll see what happens. It’s a really long race. I’ve just got to run all 500 miles. We’re in a good spot with the points, so we can be aggressive.”
IN PRACTICE YESTERDAY, OUTSIDE OF THAT VERY GOOD MOCK QUALIFYING RUN, WHAT DID YOU DISCOVER ABOUT YOUR CAR IN RACE TRIM?
“I thought we were solid. You’re always looking for more rear grip, more turn; it’s typical of short track or slick race track things. But, I felt like our rear grip was better toward the end of practice. We were a little bit tight in the final run on stickers. Off of (Turn) 4 wasn’t quite as good as we wanted to be, but we made some good adjustments overnight and leaned on our teammates, too. And, I think we’re in a decent spot for tomorrow. It’s all about patience and trying to get through the last 100 laps with a good shot at it; and with a clean right-side, too.”
OTHER THAN ‘DROP THE HAMMER’, WHAT IS YOUR MOST-USED DAYS OF THUNDER PHRASE FROM YOUR LIPS THIS WEEKEND?
“Oh, man. I don’t even know. I guess we shaved this one like a bullet. So, we’ll see what happens.”